Half of all Lotto sales for the coming week will be donated to help the people of Christchurch.
New Zealand Lotteries Commission chief executive Todd McLeay says 50 cents of every dollar spent on Lotto, Lotto Strike and Lotto Powerball next week will be donated to the earthquake relief fund.
The Lotto draw on 5 March will take place in the usual way.
Mr McLeay says many people have suggested the commission donates the Powerball jackpot directly to earthquake relief, but this is not possible because the Lotto game is governed by legally binding rules about how the prize pool is allocated and distributed.
He says the commission hopes more than $5 million will be raised from next week's sales for the relief fund.
